Officer Down: Cradle to Grave
by LacytheRomanWerewolf
Summary: Strauss, child cases and job switches. Makes your head spin, don't it? HP JRo MG ReA


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Lacy here peoples with the next Officer Down. Alright, we've reached the episode that gave me the strong desire to kill Strauss. I mean, even stronger then the one I got when we found out she was trying to use Em as a mole. The woman is a bigger bitch then me on my worst day. Ask Katie! Anywho, speaking of Em, Aaron's going to have to stop his lovely girlfriend from killing the Section Chief when she finds out what Strauss wants Aaron to do. *nods* Yeah, that'll be fun. Um, got nothing else, other then Emily having a tough time with the case cause of Mattie so have...yeah, have fun.

Disclaimer: I own Mattie, that's it.

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Emily looked up from the laundry she was folding as Aaron walked into their house. One look at his face told her something was wrong. Giving a glance to Mattie in her playpen, Emily stood up and walked over to Aaron.

"Hey," she said softly. "what's wrong?"

Aaron sighed. "Give me a minute, okay? Then I'll explain."

Emily nodded. "Of course." she motioned to their daughter. "Mattie refused to fall asleep. I think she was waiting for you to get home."

Aaron smiled a bit. "I should have come home sooner then. It's a little past her bed time." he walked over to the playpen and picked Mattie up. "You should have been asleep a few hours ago, missy."

Mattie gave a tired yawn and tucked her head under Aaron's chin. Aaron's smile grew and softened. Emily stood back, watching the two. Their daughter was very good at calming her father just by being there when he got home. Emily knew just how much she and Mattie held Aaron together.

It didn't take long for Mattie to drift off in her father's arms and Emily and Aaron settled on the couch. Aaron hadn't put Mattie down.

"So, what's wrong?" Emily asked, her voice soft again.

Aaron sighed again. "Strauss came to talk to me before I came home. She and the higher ups have decided I'm no longer fit to lead the team."

Emily gaped at him. "What?"

Her voice was loud and Mattie stirred a bit. The mother in her took over and she shushed her daughter gently.

"How can they do that?" Emily asked quietly.

"Very easily." Aaron said. "I step down and someone on the team takes my place."

Emily frowned. "Who?"

Holding Mattie in one arm, Aaron ran a hand over his face. "I don't know. It's between you, Dave and Morgan. JJ's got enough to handle with the press and Dave as a husband." Emily laughed, making Aaron smile some. "And Reid wouldn't be able to handle Strauss and the politics."

"Dave will kill Strauss." Emily said. "And that would put us in a whole new world of trouble." she paused. "Come to think of it, I might kill her too. Hell, I might do it anyway."

Aaron looked at Emily. "No, Em. Don't do anything. This might actually help us with Foyet."

Emily looked at Aaron like he sprouted another head. "You're gonna have to explain that, Aaron."

"Think about it, Emily." Aaron said. "If I step down, to Foyet, it might look like I'm falling apart, losing it. It might be enough to make him step things up."

Emily leaned back against the couch. Thinking it over, she knew Aaron was right but,

"You know this means we'll be taking orders from Morgan, right?" she asked.

Aaron nodded. "Yeah, I know. Which will be hard."

Emily crossed her arms. "Harder then you think. I've never taken orders from anyone but you. I've earned my place on this team through you."

Aaron shifted Mattie into her mother's arms before pulling Emily and their daughter into his own. "We'll get through this, Em. Hopefully my theory is right and this won't last long."

Emily brushed her fingers over Mattie's face before leaning her head on Aaron's chest. "I hope you're right."

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Emily knew it had been a good idea for the team to send her and JJ in first because of the kids inside. What she didn't expect was the panic that set upon seeing the boys. Her mind jumped to Mattie and a thousand different scenarios ran through her head.

Once all the kids were taken care of, Emily moved a bit away from the house. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she had to pull it together.

"Deep, slow breaths, Em." Aaron's voice said as his hands settled on her waist.

Emily's eyes were closed but she could feel Aaron in front of her and she brought her hands up to grasp the sides of his vest.

"Did this happen to you with Jack?" Emily asked after her breathing was back to normal. She still didn't let go of Aaron.

Aaron nodded. "A few times, yeah it did. Having a child changes your perspective on every case, even the ones without children." it wasn't Emily's first case back since Mattie was born but it was her first child case. "You just have to keep reminding yourself, over and over that Mattie's home safe and no one is going to take her from us."

Emily let her head fall against the front of Aaron's shoulder. "This parenting thing is harder then I thought."

Aaron laughed lightly, his head dropping to lean against Emily's. "Yeah, it is."

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Eyes blinking open, Emily looked around. Something had woken her up. Turning her head, she found Aaron gone and knew that had been it. Even though he'd told her the switch with Morgan had gone fine, she knew something had been bothering him. Getting up, she grabbed her robe and moved out of the bedroom. She peeked in the nursery, making sure Mattie was still sleeping before moving to the office at the end of the hall, where she could see the light on.

She found Aaron at his desk, working.

"You're not the boss anymore," Emily said softly. "you don't have to work all night."

Aaron smiled briefly. "Go back to bed, Em."

Emily shook her head. "Not until you tell me what's bothering you. And don't say nothing, I know you."

Aaron dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair, meeting Emily's eyes. "I don't want to sound egotistical but it's my team. The idea of someone else calling the shots, even if it's one of you," he shook his head. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it."

"Aaron, no one expects you to take this without a blink." Emily said. "You're right, we are your team and nothing will change that. Just because Morgan's calling the shots, doesn't mean we won't be looking to you for help." she grabbed Aaron's hand and pulled him up out of the chair. "You are our leader, we won't forget that."

Aaron stared into Emily's eyes, seeing the truth in them. He kissed her before pulling her into his arms. "Thank you."

Emily rubbed his back as she returned the hug. "No thanks needed. Now come on, I need sleep. My boss is a kinda a hard ass and I'm tired."

Aaron pulled back with a smirk. "Hard ass, huh?"

Emily mirrored the smirk. "That's right. Wanna make something of it?"

Before Emily could blink, Aaron picked her up and carried her back to their room. Apparently he did want to make something of it.

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Okay so that whole ending teasing reads very corny to me but eh, what do I know? I'm just the writer. It's you, the readers, who know. So, let me know what you think, peoples, flame policy stands and thanks, as always for reading.

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